by
Pastor William FlynnThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

08:58 AM, Friday, December 27 2013 | 2186 views | 0 | 58 | |

As we were cleaning up the aftermath of Christmas morning, I overheard Rylee (my 5-year-old) say with sad disappointment, “Christmas is over.” As I pondered what she had just said, I recalled the past few days leading up to the moment.

She would lay and stare at the presents with her name on them. Anticipation growing with each time she tried to guess what most assuredly was enclosed in the box she held. But just moments after the last gift was unwrapped a feeling of disappointment somehow clouded the moment. “Christmas was over…” She had lost the wonder of Christmas.

We can all identify (perhaps on a much larger scale) with Rylee’s feelings. Think of the last time you felt the wonder a child feels at Christmas. Perhaps it was that anticipated event you planned for months. How about that once in a lifetime vacation?

Maybe that unexpected news you got that left you swimming in amazement. In that moment, you were filled with wonder. But then, life happens, and wonder is fleeting, experienced only in episodes. We are left to live in the reality of the now.

I see this plainly in Luke’s account of the Christmas Story. The wonder is most certainly there when Gabriel appears to Mary; and when the Heavenly Host illuminates the shepherd’s dark night.

As quickly as it comes it dissipates and each player in this wondrous event is left to cope with the reality of the now. I believe the answer to coping with the absence of wonder is found in how Mary and these shepherds respond to life after the moment of wonder.

Imagine with me Mary’s visitation. Oh, the wonder that must have filled her. The long-awaited prophesy of Messiah was coming to pass; fulfilled through her. She was indeed highly favored. Yet, let us not forget her humanity.

Imagine the thoughts that surged in her mind. She would have to cope in a world that was hostile to the truth of the wonder of what had just transpired in her! Who would believe her? Would she have the faith to see it come to pass?

What makes Mary great is that in the face of all these questions, she exemplifies what we should do. Mary worshiped. Luke 1:46-47 Mary is recorded saying, “…My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour…” when the wonder of glad-tidings had waned in her mind, the faithfulness of God remained.

And what about the wonder experienced by the Shepherds? Angelic hosts transfixing; proclaiming the birth of Emanuel; The Celestial choir serenades! Never before had such lowly men seen such splendid sights. Could such wonder ever fade?

Luke 2:15 reminds us the shepherds were just like us. The angels went away, leaving these men with a sense of disappointment. They had a decision to make. With dark skies again overhead, the shepherds said “… Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us…” When the messengers (and the euphoria of the wonder) where gone the message remained. In following the message they found the Messiah.

The wondrous events we experience are given to us not to cause us to worship the moment, but rather to awaken our thoughts, to cause us to pause from the rat race of life, and in pausing see and worship the Saviour. The Word of God, delivered by the angels was all Mary and The Shepherds had, but it was enough. It is still enough.

The Word of God stands sure. When wonder fades from your life, turn to the Word of God. You will find what Mary and the Shepherds found when reality set in for them. You will find the way to go on in the reality of now. You will find the Son of God. You will find the true wonder.